We all know that British were the rulers of India for close to 200 years. During this period India was the brightest jewel in the British Empire. At the end of the First World War, with the defeat of Germany, the British power was at its apex. No thoughts of granting independence to India existed in the British mind. But, when Hitler started World War II, he destroyed the economies of Britain and France to such an extent that they were no longer able to financially maintain their military forces, and were hence incapable of containing the burgeoning freedom movements in their colonies.
End of the World War 2 and Indian Freedom:
The war dragged on for 6 years and Great Britain had its resources stretched during the period. Though America helped but the price of fighting Nazi Germany ran into billions of dollars and reduced the homeland (Great Britain) to penury. Britain would have left India in 1947 purely for financial reasons, due to its wholly collapsed economy.
After WWII, Britain left India in 1947, Jordan in 1946, Palestine in 1947, Sri Lanka in 1948, Myanmar in 1948, and Egypt in 1952 and 50 other nations within years thereafter. For the same reason, France also had to grant independence to Laos in 1949 and Cambodia in 1953, and had to leave Vietnam in 1954 and other 30 nations within years thereafter.
When Gandhi, launched the “Quit India” movement in August 1942, demanding the immediate withdrawal of the British from India or face nationwide civil disobedience along with all other Congress leaders, Gandhi was immediately imprisoned, and the country erupted in small violent demonstrations.
Gandhi’s Non-violence movement had Zero effect on the British:
With Congress leaders in jail after quit India movement, attention turned to Subhas Bose, who had been ousted from the Congress in 1939. With Japanese support, he organized the Indian National Army, composed largely of Indian soldiers of the British Indian army who had been captured at Singapore by the Japanese.
During Quit India Movement Gandhiji spread the slogan “Do or Die,” which in fact Subhas had proposed in 1938. The British government arrested all the top Congress Party leaders and thus killed the Quit India Movement before it had a chance to gather steam. It fizzled out entirely within a matter of months.
As a result of the military activities of Netaji, British prime minister Clement Atlee granted independence to India. He said that Gandhi’s non-violence movement had next to zero effect on the British.
Credits goes to Adolf Hitler:
The credit for reducing Great Britain to this dire strait must go to Hitler whose war greatly taxed the English. In fact if the second war had not taken place there is cent per cent chance that Great Britain would have never left India. Maybe the 21st century would have dawned with Great Britain still in control of India. This is not an airy statement but one that could have been very plausible.
Hitler thus deserves a large amount of credit for unleashing the Second World War, debilitating England and as a spin-off getting the English to leave India.
Article credits: All India Roundup
